Dental offices in BC have claimed that they are being denied millions in pandemic insurance payouts due to ambiguous provincial emergency directives, adding that their insurer is “taking advantage” of the situation.
TripleGuard, which offers insurance to 1,800 dentists in BC, said in a statement last month to its clients that Aviva (the insurance underwriter) specified that pandemic insurance can only be activated “when there is a provincial order in place by the government to shut down dental offices.”
On March 23, the province only recommended that dental offices suspend non-emergency care, CBC News reported.
“[Aviva’s] position is that the BC government’s current instructions for British Columbia dentists are not sufficient to trigger pandemic coverage under the plan,” explained TripleGuard president Ed Dermit.
The British Columbia Dental Association (BCDA) later learned of Aviva’s position, then replied on April 13. In its response statement, BCDA said that the provincial directive has been consistent with directives from other provinces, and that the BC government supports the BCDA in its position that dentists should be able to collect pandemic insurance.
BCDA’s letter also said that dentists are being denied at least $36 million in pandemic insurance compensation.
The association also accused Aviva of taking advantage of the lack of an “order” to deny dentists pandemic coverage.
“If the pandemic insurance coverage is not provided, there may be a dramatic contraction of available dental care for patients who have had to defer treatment,” a statement on BCDA’s website said.
“These practices are caught in a dilemma: They cannot provide regular dental care due to the pandemic; and now many cannot access their insurance coverage which they have paid for to help tide them over until they can get back to work.”
In response to the report, Aviva Canada issued the following statement to Insurance Business.
“Aviva’s position has not changed and we are processing dentists claims across Canada right now," said Jason Storah, CEO of Aviva Canada. "We’re committed to paying all dentists’ claims where we have clear legal direction that a government order of closure has been initiated based on a pandemic. Aviva and the CDSPI are working together to simply seek clarity regarding the position of the B.C. government and its health regulators. I’m hopeful that we will have this resolved in the next few days.”
This is not the first time Aviva Canada had been involved in pandemic insurance issues with dentists. Last month, dentists in Saskatchewan also raised the same issue – that they were not receiving pandemic insurance payments from the insurer unless the government ordered a closure.
